Apparatus for homogenizing mixed liquid ingredients



May 18, 1948. J. B. McFADDEN APPARATUS FOR HOMOGENIZING MIXED LIQUID INGREDI-ENTS Filed March 27, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR- $752665. Mfidcien y mwamw 8, 1948- J. B. MCFADDEN 2,441,711

AiPAR'ATUS FOR HOMOGENIZIXG MIXED LIQUID INGREDIENTS Filed March 27, 1945 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTEIR i ames BJ [cfc'edcZen ving the improvements;

Patented May 18, 1948 l APPARATUS FOR HOMOGENIZING MIXED LIQUID INGREDIENTS James B. McFadden, West Chester, assignor to United Dairy Equipmentcompany, West Chester, Pa., acorporationotlennsylvania Application March 27 1945; Serial No.- 585,114

3 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in an apparatus: for homogenizing mixed liquid, ingredients containing; oily substances.

An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above type wherein the oily globules of themixed ingredients will be efilciently broken and torn into smaller globules so as to produce a stable homogenized product.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above type wherein the ingredients are broken and torn by being impacted against blades rotating in opposite directions.

.A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the-above type wherein there,- tating blades are provided with sharp edges and so spaced that the oily globules are released from the sharp edges of the blades in succession and impacted against the next adjacent blade.

A still further object of the invention is to pro-' vide an apparatus of the above type wherein the faces against which the ingredients are impacted have shallow pockets disposed relative to each other so as to provide sharp edges for rupturing oily globules.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. v

In the drawingsj Figure 1 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in sectionshowing an apparatus embody- Figure 2 is an :end view ofthe same withp'arts broken away to show the arrangementof the delivery spout; 1

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailin section through one of the disks supporting the blades and showing the pockets in the innerfaceof the blades 3 of the'motor carries a sleeve 4 which is splined thereto, and mounted on this sleeve dis a disk iwhichrotate's with the'shaft, This disk 5 is provided with a series .of radially spaced blades '6, 6'. These blades are of successively larger diameter. Each blade as shown'jn the drawings, has the inner face thereof inclined and the outer face substantially at right angles to the planeof rotation of the disk. v a a Also mounted on the supporting base is a motor 1. Saidmotor is adiustably mountedso that it ,maybemoved inan axial direction and'issecured 5 a sharp cutting-edge they will be impacted than these outlet openings 15, andtherefore the 2 in; adjusted positions by a lock lever 8 of the usual construction. The motor 1 has an extended shaft 9 on which is mounted a disk l0 having a series of radially spaced blades ll, ll. These radially spaced blades on the disk I!) are shaped similar to the blades'on the disk 5. They are disposed, however, so that the blades ll lie between the blades 6 on the opposed disk. The disks are, disposed relative to each other so thatthe end portions of the blades overlap in a radial direction...

It isnoted that there will be a separate motor for each disk and. these motors are so actuated that the disks rotate in opposite directions; As illustrated, the motor shafts rotate about horizontal axes. It will be understood, however, that from certain aspects of the invention they may be otherwise'disposed 1 The disk 10 is provided with a laterally projecting housing 12 which provides a receiver l3 into which the ingredients to be homogenized are fed. a As shown, the ingredients passfrom a suitable mixer'through a pipe l4 and are discharged into the receiver at'the lower side thereof. The disk is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings IS. The ingredientsdischarged fromthe pipe into the receiver will pass through these openings ,to the inner face of the disklfl ,fA centrifugal force acting on the ingredients, due to the fact that the housing I2 rotates .with

the disk, will cause the ingredients to pass through the openings l5 and thence outwardly across the blades on the opposed disks. "The openings I 5 are so dimensioned that the flow channel between the bladesis of greater capacity mixed ingredients will flow in film form alongthe inner face of a blade and be released from the cutting edge of the blade and then impacted against the next adjacent blade. As these oily globules-pass over this sharp edge of theblades, they will be, cut, torn and shaved into smaller globules. :On the next outer blade there will be further cutting, tearing and shaving of the glob- .ules until when they are finally released from the outermost blades they will be very small so as to produce a very stable homogenized product.

As shown' inFigure 3, the inner face of each blade is provided with a series of pockets [6.

These pockets are disposed back fromthe cutting edge of the blades in which they a'r'e formed and a plane containing the sharp edges of the opposed blades will intersect the. pockets so that when the mixed ingredients are released; from face of the blade 'will be caused to rotate with the blade due to this increased frictional grip of the wall of the blade on the flowing film. This ensures that the film when released from the sharp edge of the blade, will be moving at the same speed of the blade and will be impactthe entrapped air and the pressure in each little foam bubble is at atmospheric pressure. When the foam is discharged into this chamber which is under vacuum, the differential pressure existing on the inner and outer surface of the bubble will cause the bubble to expand until it bursts.

The homogenized product is discharged by ..centrifugal force between two annular decks 31 and 33 which are shaped so as to provide a relatively 7 narrow discharge throat 39 through 'which the ingredients pass into the body memed against the inner surface of the next adja cent blade which is rotating in an opposite .di-.

rection. The fact that the adjacent blades are 'ring is clamped in an annular frame 22 mounted on a bracket base 23. The body member I9 is held in place in the annular frame by set screws 24. As shown,vth'ere are three of these set screws arranged in such angular relation to each other that the body member I 9 will be firmly clamped to the frame.

The body member l9 has an inwardly extending portion 25 provided with an opening 26. The portion 25 is turned inwardly so as to form a wall 21 which surrounds this opening: Disposed in this openin 26, is a disk-shaped member 28 which is formed integral with the housing l2. This disk-shaped member has a series of spaced ports 29 located adjacent the periphery thereof. These ports incline outwardly of the axis of rotation and serve as a centrifugal pump for drawing the air out of the chamber within the casing l8.

The cover 20 is provided with an annular flange 30 which fits within the body member l9. A gasket 3| is clamped between a projection on the cover and the ring 2i so that the cover is sealed to the body member l9. Clamping members 32 carried by the annular frame 22 serve to hold the cover in sealed contact with the body member [9.

The cover has an inwardly extending portion 33 which provides an opening 34 in which is located a disk 35. This disk 35 has a threaded connection with the sleeve 4 and rotates with the sleeve and the disk 5. Said disk 35 is provided with a series of circumferentially spaced ports 36 which incline outwardly and serve as an additional means for drawing the air from the casing l8. Thesedisks rotating rapidly will prevent any air from entering the openings 26 and 34 in which the disks rotate. The casing I8 is thus placed under vacuum.

The ingredients as they are impacted against the blades tend to foam and the purpose of this vacuum on the chamber I8 is to eliminate to a great extent this foam from the homogenized product. The foam is formed by the gases and .ber L9 and from the body member the homogenized products pass out through a spout 40.

The deck member 38 is carried by a cylindrical portion 4| which is provided with lugs or feet 42; 42"which will hold the cylindrical portion spaced away from the inner surface of the body member'l9. It is understood, of course, that this casing including the body member [9 and these decks are allstationary and do not rotate.

The deck 31 is supported by bolts 43 which may be utilized for adjusting the position of these decks relative to each other. The purpose of the narrow throat of the decks is to squeeze the homogenized products so as to eliminate to a further extent air trapped'therein; This discharge of the homogenized ingredients into a rarified atmosphere and between opposed decks for eliminating trapped air forms no part of the present invention, but is shown, described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 583,161, filed March 16, 1945.

It will be noted fromFigure 2' that the discharge spout 48 is so dimensioned that the homogenized ingredients passing out through the spout will close the lower end of the'spout so that the chamber l8 may be placed under vacuum. The di'schargeend 0f the spout may have a suitable means for restricting the flow so that the level of .the discharge product will at least be somewhere in the vicinity of the broken line 44 (Figure 2). i

It is thought that'the operation of the homogenizing apparatus will be clear from the description given. Generally, it may be stated that the mixed ingredients, after they have been properly mixed, are discharged from the pipe I l into the receiving chamber l3 and from the receiving chamber the mixed ingredients are caused to flow in continuous small streams in between the rotating disks where they will form in a fine film and be impacted against one blade after another on the rotating disks. The oily'particles passing over the sharp edges of these blades in succession will'be torn, shaved and ruptured into smaller globules. The'little pockets with the sharp edges in the face of the blade against which the ingredients are impacted not only further out and tear the oily globules, but they cause the film to rotate at the speed of the blade against which they are impacted, and thus the oily particles are broken into very fine globules and the mixed ingredients thus reduced to 'a very stable homogenized product.

The apparatus can be very easily disassembled so as to give access to the inner parts for the cleaning of the same; The cover 29 can be quickly removed and then the body member I 9 can be withdrawn from the annular frame supporting the same after the set screws have been released. The withdrawal of the body member l9 takes place at the same time the motor 1 and the parts supported thereby are moved away from the disk 5. The deck members can be removedfrom the body member [9 and the body member l9'also removed as the diameter of the opening 26 is slightly larger than the diameter of the disk l0. Not only are the parts easily accessible for cleaning, but by the shifting of the motor the position of the blades on the disk I relative to the blades on the disk can be adjusted.

It is obvious that many changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim;

1. A homogenizer comprising a casing, a disk mounted for rotation in said casing, a second disk mounted for rotation in said casing in an opposite direction, said disks having radially spaced concentric projecting blades disposed so that the blades on one disk lie between the blades on the other disk with the end portions of the blades overlapping in a radial direction, a receiver mounted on one of said disks for rotation therewith, means for directing mixed ingredients into said receiver, said disk carrying the receiver having openings leading therefrom to the inner face of the disk and disposed radially inward of said blades whereby the mixed ingredients discharged from said openings will be moved outwardly by centrifugal force and impacted against one blade after another, each blade having a sharp cutting edge and a series of pockets on their inner faces disposed so that the pockets of the respective blades lie in the same plane as the sharp edges of said blades and ingredients released from the sharp edge of one blade are impacted against the pocketed area of the next outer blade.

2. A homogenizer comprising a casing, a disk mounted for rotation in said casing, a second disk opposed to said first-named disk, said disks having radially spaced concentric projecting blades disposed so that the blades on one disk lie between the blades on the other disk with the end portions of the blades overlapping in, a radial direction, each of said blades having a frustoconiform impact surface terminating peripherally in a sharp continuous cutting edge, each said impact surface having a series 01 pockets recessed therein and disposed in the same plane as the next inward sharp blade edge so that the ingredients released from the sharp edge of one blade are impacted against the pocketed area of the next outer blade, and means for directing the mixed ingredients onto said blades so that said ingredients will be moved outwardly over said blades by centrifugal force. 7

3. A homogenizer comprising a casing, a disk mounted for rotation in said casing, a second disk opposed to said first-named disk, said dis-ks having radially spaced concentric projecting blades disposed so that the blades on one disk lie between the blades on the other disk with the end portions of the blades overlapping in a radial direction, each of said blades having a frustoconiform impact surface terminating peripherally in a sharp continuous cutting edge, each said impact surface having a series of pockets recessed therein, said pockets being disposed in the same plane as the next inward sharp blade edge and close together so that their adjacent faces terminate in sharp cutting edges whereby the ingredients released from the sharp edge of one blade are impacted against the sharp cutting edges in the pocketed area of the next outer blade, and means for directing the mixed ingredients onto said blades so that said ingredients will move outwardly over said blades by centrifugal force.

JAMES B. McFADDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,496,641 Hurrell June 3, 1924 1,624,037 Butler Apr. 12, 1927- 1,666,640 Cum'fi Apr. 17, 1928 1,696,083 Fraser Dec. 18, 1929 1,728,178 Eppenback Sept. 17, 1929 2,260,834 Everett Oct. 28, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 88,221 Sweden Jan. 5, 1937 

